It’s been a couple of months since I did any serious couponing as I gave myself permission to take some time off from chasing deals while we adjusted to life with a new baby. But this was a good stockup week at Kroger, and I was excited to get back into it and start the new month off fresh with my newly-filled cash envelopes. It feels kind of funny to show off my groceries, but survey results showed you want to see more couponing inspiration. So here you go! 

Best deals: (prices AFTER sale matched with coupon)

• Canned Tomatoes: $0.29/can
• Whole Wheat Pasta: $0.50/box
• Pasta Sauce: $0.74/jar
• Turkey Meatballs: $0.99/bag
• Taco Shells: $0.37/box
• Protein Bars: $0.16/each (planning to add these to our 72 hour kits)
• Cereal: $0.99/box
• Formula: $0.99/can
• Blistex: $0.19/each

Yes, I’m a breastfeeding mama, but after a manager special markdown and a coupon, the normally-priced $16 cans of Enfamil were $0.99!! They’ll be nice to have on hand for the occassional night out.

Total Before Coupons: $181.35

Total After: $67.42

Money Saving Tip: When the deals are hot–stockpile.

When the deals are hot, don’t buy one can, buy six (or whatever number you choose). Items typically reach their rock-bottom price every six to twelve weeks, and keeping a “stock” gets you through the next sale and helps you avoid having to pay full price later on. If the weekly budget allows, I typically buy enough of an item to last my family three to six months (although my current goal is to work up to a year’s supply).

How is your money saving journey going?

One of my goals this year is to kick this little blog up a notch, and it’s come time to pursue sponsors to help keep the lights on–so to say. I put out a call, and am so excited with the supportive response I received and the opportunity I now have to introduce some incredible indie businesses sponsoring Keeping Life Creative this month.

I eagerly support creativity–particularly small businesses run by women (many of them stay-at-home-moms like me!) who dared to dream and pursue their passion. And so I’ve selected and approved sponsors for this blog that I feel exemplify that. I hope you enjoy getting to know them as I have, and that you will take some time to visit their shops and blogs.

Chelle of Chelle’s Creations is a digital scrapbook designer at Scrap Orchard. I’ve had the chance to get to know and admire Chelle’s designs over the past couple of years, and adore her whimsical themed kits, and high-quality commercial-use element packs.

Chelle keeps a fun blog where she posts scrapbooking ideas, tutorials, and FREEBIES! When you sign up for her newsletter, you’ll receive weekly tips and offers. One offer I think is so fun is Chelle’s scrapbooking rewards program–similar to a punch card. When you purchase digi goodies from her store, keep track on your reward card. When the card is filled, redeem for a FREE $10 code to her store!!

Keeping Life Creative readers can take 25% off Chelle’s digital designs using coupon code: Pams_Fan_25 

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know I’m pretty dedicated to couponing and stockpiling. My goal has been to build up to a year’s supply, so when Jade Garn, independent consultant for Shelf Reliance, e-mailed me her sponsor interest–I literally YELPED out loud because just a few days before I had spent many hours of my weekend researching food storage companies. {Talk about having a fly on your wall!}

I’m excited to have Jade aboard this month and to have the opportunity to share more about my thoughts on food storage as well as my experiences sampling some of Shelf Reliance’s shelf-stable food storage products. If you’re interested in trying their innovative freeze-dried, shelf-stable foods, take advantage of the discount Jade offers when you order through her consultant site.

Shelf Reliance has a great feature called The Q, a customizable program for those who want to build their food storage without going into debt. Based on the information and budgeted amount you provide, the automatic Q planner creates a plan for your family, then ships it directly to your home.

When joining The Q, you can set your monthly budget at what’s affordable for you, but Jade is offering a FREE pouch of vegetables of your choice to anyone that signs up for The Q at a $100 budget or more AND has it shipped during the month of February. Another benefit of joining The Q with a monthly budget of at least $100 for at least 3 months is that you will receive the Platinum Membership free for life, along with NO Annual Fee for life.

Andrea Hamilton, of Doable Diapers, initially chose cloth diapers with her oldest child to save money.  Now a mom of two young children, she realized there were more benefits to cloth diapers than JUST saving money. The benefits as well as the cute prints and colors that continually flooded the markets had her hooked, and she pursued her dream of opening a cloth diaper store.  Her goal is to grow the business so that her husband, who is studying to be a paster, can work less and study more.

The title of her store comes from the misconception many people have about cloth diapers.  I laughed about this, because I told Andrea that my mom used cloth diapers with my younger siblings and they were REALLY hard for me to help change because of the diaper pins and rubber pants. After browsing Andrea’s shop and blog, I learned that cloth diapers have come a LONG way! Andrea points out, “Today’s cloth diapers have snaps, velcro, and customizable absorption, making them just as easy, if not easier, than mainstream disposable diapers.  So in fact, cloth diapers are very doable!”

Doable Diapers offers FREE shipping on everything in the U.S. Use coupon code CREATIVE to take $5 off any order of $35 or more.

Hayley, the lady behind The Tiny Twig, writes a blog dedicated to “inspiring women to create lives of more passion and less fuss.” When it comes to motherhood, and life, Hayley says it like it is. Examine your life. Examine what stresses you out. Look for ways to make it less fussy so that you can spend your time focusing on things you value–things you’re passionate about.

Simple.Truth. Yet for me, reading Hayley’s blog is as inspiring and refreshing as sitting down and chatting with a best friend.

I dare ya to try her. But I’m warning you–you may get hooked!

Emily originally created Jones Design Company as a small stationery design business. But as her family grew (she has three boys and a girl) and her creative interests expanded, Jones Design Company became a lifestyle blog.

When you visit Jones Design Company, you’ll find Emily portrays elegance and grace in her home decor, fashion, and graphic designs. You’ll also discover free printables, tutorials for creative and inexpensive projects, musings on family, faith, and motherhood.

Maggie is the cute face behind Gussy Sews. Her indie biz story of how she went from unemployment to teaching herself how to sew, creating a brand, and running a successful full-time creative business is wildly inspiring. And her sassy bags are pretty darn adorable as well!

Besides sewing a shop full of ruffles, Maggie blogs dream-catching inspiration at Gussy Sews.

Illustrator and designer, Katie Daisy, is an inspiring example of someone who pursued her bliss and her colorful acryllic-painted artprints are reflect her passion for nature.

Find more of Katie’s beautiful art in her Etsy shop.

Leah of Bluebird Chic is a crafty, homeschooling mommy who loves photography, running, reading, and scrapbooking. She handcrafts colorful, trendy, camera strap covers and other hand sewn items.

Stay tuned for more from Bluebird Chic. . . something fun is coming in the February giveaway!!

Jessi writes the Naptime Diaries where she chats about life as a mom, and wife to a church planter. Her voice shines in her writing, and she’s the kind of person I want to sit down and have a brownie with. Preferably glass-free.

Jessi has an Etsy shop where she sells scripture-based art prints. Use coupon code NEWYEAR to take 30% off.

Mandie of MoxieMandie creates funky, fun, bright accessories such as zippy pouches and pillow covers from modern, thrifted, and vintage fabric.

I immediately loved Mandie when I read on her blog that she’s a girl who loves fabric and decided to do something about it. That, to me, is the spirit of following your dreams.

Use code TENOFHEARTS to take 10% off your purchase from MoxieMandie.

HUGE thank you to all my February sponsors! Stay tuned for the February giveaway where you you may see more of their fun products.

Interested in sponsoring Keeping Life Creative? Find more info here.

When I was a kid, we made our own Valentines. My mom would get out a big box of construction paper and scissors, glitter, paper doilies, and glue, and we’d sit at the kitchen table and assemble heart-shaped cards for my classmates. I loved the creative project and the time with my mom. But as I got a bit older (2nd or 3rd grade?) I  started to be embarrassed by my homemade Valentines when I realized my friends were all giving the “cool” store-bought tear-at-the-perforation Looney Tunes, Transformers, and Smurfs cards.

Since Ryan is in first grade, I know I’m beginning to creap on that possibly too-cool-for-homemade-Valentines-and-crafting-with-mom stage. But this one includes a little treat, so I think we might be good for at least one more year.

• We Go Together {FREE} printable
• cookies
• red cardstock
• paper CD sleeves
• twine
• paper doilies
• scissors
• tape

• Download and print the {FREE} We Go Together printable. (This is my favorite project printing paper, but cardstock works too.)
• Trim the printable using scissors or a paper cutter.
• Cut or punch hearts from the red cardstock.
• Write a message on the back of each CD sleeve, if desired.

• Place a cookie or two inside each paper CD sleeve. Depending on your cookies, you may want to line the CD sleeve with an additional doily to absorb any oil.
• Seal the CD sleeve with a kiss (or tape or a sticker!)

• Tie everything together with twine, or use a gluestick to attach the doily, cardstock heart, and We Go Together card to the cookie-filled sleeve.

Give to friends or neighbors, tuck in a lunchbox or briefcase, etc.

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It’s the first day of a new month and that means NEW freezer cooking menus at Once a Month Mom! Here is a roundup of all the yummy things I filled our freezer with during January:

{Veggie and Rice Stirfry Packets}

{Homemade Bagel Bites}

{Mexican Chicken}

{Banana Bread}

{Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip Cookies}

{Easy Ranch Chicken}

{Chicken and Rice Bake}

{Instant Oatmeal Packets}

Did you do any freezer cooking this month?

Recently Jared and I had a conversation about motherhood and my “work” and this little business of mine. Sometimes I get down on myself, falling into the worldly trap of thinking being a stay-at-home mom isn’t “good enough.” I don’t know if it’s imagined, or if the judgement is really there–but I often feel others are looking down on me for my choice to be a full-time mom instead of investing in a paying career. Times like these are when I selfishly think maybe I need to do more, take on more, BE more.

This morning, even earlier than my alarm goes off, I heard little feet pattering across the wood floor to the bathroom. A few minutes later I heard rustling and soft singing, and soon bedroom lights went on and three little munchkins were up. Initially I was annoyed. It was SOOO early still, and pitch dark outside. Sleep is so valuable these days. What were they doing awake already? I rolled over and buried my face in the pillow, as if to hide from the perceived nightmarish morning I was about to have with three still-tired children. Or at least a still-tired mommy.

But soon six little feet pattered across that wood floor, blankets in tow, to climb up on my bed for a morning mommy cuddle. A little bit of arguing ensued about who was going to fit where. A miniature two-year-old voice even bossily shouted “my mommy” to her older siblings. But eventually we all got comfy (enough) for a few moments.

While the cuddle only lasted a minute (my freshly showered and dressed husband emerged and they were ready for daddy time), I remembered something Jared said to me during our nightly talk. Although this stay-at-home mommy stuff isn’t always glamorous, fun, or even fulfilling, we both believe it’s what’s best for our family right now. Jared, who’s also supportive of me following my passions said, “I think the most important thing for you to accomplish is having our kids know you love them.”

It puts things in perspective, you know? Because truly, my kids don’t really care what I do. They don’t care if I have an online store, what my college degree is in, how many blog followers I have, or that I’m PTA president. They don’t even care if I make great dinners instead of boxed macaroni and cheese.

They just want morning cuddles, stories, tickles, laughs, and love. They want to know that they are safe, and cherished. They just want me. And so no matter how many other things I get involved in outside my home, I always want to remember that while the pay is low and the benefits are just hugs and kisses, being a mom to these little ones is my best job of all.

I’m sharing this week’s meal plan at Once a Month Mom today! Come see my freezer cooking plan and what we’re eating this week.

Many of my favorite recipes come from my grandma or mom and cinnamon-streusel topped “coffee cake” is one of those recipes that says “home” to me. The recipe originated from a magazine my grandma clipped when she was a newlywed and learning how to cook. Over the years it’s been tweaked a bit, including the addition of chocolate chips by someone with a sweet tooth!

Coffee cake is often requested when her grandkids visit, and is Grandma’s go-to breakfast recipe when there are overnight guests. My mom also made this sweet breakfast cake when I was growing up, often doubling the batch so we could snack on the leftovers later.

Since my family’s current breakfast routine usually includes instant oatmeal, I’d forgotten about this recipe until recently when I was putting together my recipe binder. Upon discovery I made it in mini cake (muffin) form, and as suspected–my kids loved it as much as I remember loving it.

Coffee cake muffins (which really should have a new name since they have nothing to do with coffee) are tasty at breakfast with fresh fruit and a glass of milk, or if cake for breakfast isn’t your thing, they’re pretty delish served warm with a scoop of ice cream for dessert.

Here’s the recipe:

Grandma’s Coffee Cake

Batter:

• 1 beaten egg
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 TBSP oil
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking powder

Mix ingredients well and pour into a greased 8×8 baking pan (OR muffin cups). Sprinkle with topping. 

Topping:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 TBSP flour
• 2 TBSP melted butter
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, and butter. Sprinkle over cake batter. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts, if using. Bake at 375F for 20-25 minutes (cake) or 12-15 minutes (muffins) or until lightly golden brown.

Tip for cooking with kids: Baking is a great kid-friendly introduction to cooking, and my kids love helping for the reward of licking the spoon when we’re done! One of their “jobs” when we make muffins is to fill the muffin tin with paper liners, or spread the silicone liners (above) on a baking sheet.

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Since the death of my laptop a few months ago, I have not scrapbooked ONE.SINGLE.PAGE. {Gasp}

Now that might now seem like a big deal to some of you, but documenting my family’s stories is a big priority to me, and so falling several months behind has been stressful. So I made myself a goal this year to keep up with my 2012 photos and stories, but as good old Dave Ramsey says–if you don’t have a written plan, your goal will just be a dream. Knowing I wanted to be successful in accomplishing this goal, I was thinking about HOW I would go about keeping up with my 2012 photos when I remembered my sister-in-law, Shaela’s method of keeping up. It’s genius (especially her NOT GUILTY part that you’ll read more about in a minute!). Since this method works well for her, (and I’m thinking it will work for me) I asked her to come share because it might also work for YOU. 

Hi everyone! My name is Shaela and I live in Las Vegas, NV. Pam asked me to do a guest post on my scrapbook method, so here I am!

I started scrapbooking traditionally about 10 years ago, and while I tried my best to keep up with pictures and layouts, as time went on (and marriage, kids, and life happened) I seemed to get more and more behind. But then I hit on a method that really worked for me, and I have successfully completed 2 years worth of scrapbooks: one from 2010 (traditional) and one from 2011 (digital).

Since I am both a traditional and a digital scrapbooker and have used this method successfully both ways, I hope that it will help many of you to accomplish every scrapbooker’s goal: to stay caught up with your layouts! So I’m going to explain the method I have found that works best for me.

I decided early in 2010 that something needed to change. I wrote notes and took pictures and sometimes had them printed and put together in layouts, but most of the time my pictures just sat on my desk or in my computer and nothing was done with them. So the very first thing I did was take my 3 big boxes of photos (think Xerox paper boxes) from the last 8 years and label them “NOT GUILTY”. Seriously… I wrote that on the sides of them with a sharpie and stuck them in the back of my closet. I will get to them someday (hopefully), but even if I don’t, I’m NOT allowing myself to feel guilty. You cannot move forward if you are constantly looking back, and moving forward is what I wanted to do.

After I set my guilt aside, I downloaded and sorted the photos from my digital camera so I could start with a clean memory card. Then I set up a folder on my computer desktop labeled “2010 photos”. Inside that folder I set up a separate folder for each month of the year, like this:

Then at the end of each month, I took ALL of the photos on my camera and transferred them to that month’s folder. Most of the time I had random photos, but sometimes I had many photos from a specific event: birthdays, vacations, etc. I grouped those photos into folders within the month, like so:

The first week of the new month was my photo editing week. I went through my photos and fixed any flaws, deleted duplicates or bad shots and basically did general cleaning up. Once the photos were done, I burned a DVD disc with the photos from that month and slipped it into a cd case. I made 2 copies each month: a backup and a backup-backup (you can also backup your photos online if you like).

Since I was still scrapbooking traditionally in 2010, the next thing I did was plan out my layouts. I looked at the photos for the month and decided which stories I wanted to tell. For the special events I typically planned only one layout (either a single or 2-page spread) but the random photos were a bit more difficult to plan: sometimes one photo had a whole story to tell, and other times the photos were just snapshots of daily life. Once I had my layouts planned and sketched out, I cropped my photos and sent them to Costco for printing.

I would pick them up and place them with my sketchbook and work on the layouts throughout the month. This way I was scrapbooking July’s photos in August, August’s photos in September, etc. Since I gave myself a whole month to get them done, I found that it was very manageable, and the stories were still fairly fresh in my mind. If I ended up with a lot of random photos, I often scrapbooked an “ordinary days” layout where I put them all together and called it good.

Occasionally I had SO many photos from a day or event that I simply couldn’t scrapbook them all, but I still wanted to be able to see them. So I bought some 12×12 divided inserts and slipped the extra photos in after the initial layout of the event. 
 Using this method I was able to fully complete my 2010 scrapbook by January 2011 – a feat I had NEVER accomplished! With my 2010 scrapbook completed, I was ready to follow the same method in 2011 but with a twist. While I love the physical craft of scrapbooking and getting my “hands dirty”, it was taking so much time (and money) that I found myself falling behind at times… having to scramble at the end of October or early November to finish up September’s layouts, for example. So in 2011 I decided to take the plunge into digital scrapbooking. I set up my folders on the computer the same way, but with a few additions. Within each month’s folder, I made 3 folders labeled “JPEG layout files, photos, and PSD layout files”, like this:

Within the photos folder I treated my photos the same as before: creating subfolders for special events and leaving the rest of the photos “loose.” Since my decision to switch to digital was based on saving on time and money, I also decided to use layered templates and Photoshop Elements to create my layouts, since this would save me a lot of time and planning in the long run. I also used quickpages occasionally.

I then basically followed the same routine: at the end of the month I put all my photos from my camera into the appropriate folder, cleaned and edited them, and then scrapbooked the prior month’s photos in the ensuing weeks. It went much smoother and faster doing it digitally because I didn’t have to crop, print, and physically cut each photo – I just dragged them into Photoshop when I was working on a layout. I saved all of my layouts as editable .psd files, and when I had a layout completed to my satisfaction I also saved it as a full-resolution .jpg in the JPEGs folder. When I finished a folder of photos, either within the month or for the whole month, I renamed the folder to add “- DONE” at the end of it so I knew what was finished and what still needed doing. At the end of the year, all my folders looked like this:

Many places offer scrapbook-size prints if you prefer to print your layouts and slip them into your own scrapbooks, but I chose to have mine bound into a photobook at the end of the year. The first week in January 2012 I uploaded all of my .jpg layouts from 2011 and had them bound into an 8×8 photobook from Shutterfly.

For the first time in 10 years I am “caught up” with scrapbooking. I don’t feel pressure and guilt anymore about the hundreds of photos that I still have in boxes from years ago. I know that even if I never get to those, my children and grandchildren will be able to look at what I have accomplished and what I’m doing now. It’s a method that has worked for me for 2 years now and a method I plan to continue in the years to come. I hope that it works for some of you as well!

(Pam again) Awesome, right? I’m going to do that NOT GUILTY thing immediately. lol

For lots more scrapbooking and crafty fun, visit Shaela on her blog!

It’s one of the things that surprised me the most when we moved here because where I grew up, large families, stay-at-home moms, baking bread, scrapbooking, and breastfeeding were all normal–and not at all granola. We called it “family -centered” and “homemaking” and “self-reliance.” And, I don’t know, I’d kinda like to think I’m still a cute, hip(ish?) mom even though I have a brood of babies, make jam, clip coupons, and aspire to make dinner most nights.

So imagine my surprise when Lydia was born and my doctor and nurses were amazed that I was planning to breastfeed instead of starting her out on a bottle. That I had nursed my other three babies as well, that Lyddie latched right away, and that I fervently pumped to keep my milk supply while they had her on formula during her extended hospital stay.

It kinda seemed weird to me that I was the weird one because I thought studies were saying [when possible] “breast is best.”

Then, imagine my further surprise when a few weeks later I got a call from a nutritionist. They were looking for a “peer counselor,” preferably an “experienced” mom to serve as a testimony and an encouragement to new or hesitant moms. And would I be interested?

Hmmm. Guess being weird and standing out sometimes has it’s benefits?

So this week I’m attending a training so that if a struggling new mom needs someone to talk to–I can be a resource. I’m excited to attend the training, even if it does mean that it’s just to get a few days off housework!

Since I am, as they say, “experienced,” I’ll be the first to say breastfeeding isn’t always a slice of pie, and so this post definitely isn’t meant to preach one way or the other. Bottles and formula were invented for a reason, and by all means, if that’s works best for YOU, use them. Personally, I’ve had good success with nursing, and it’s been my preferred choice for my babies. But I know it’s not always possible, and I’ve also had struggles with poor latch and cracked nipples and low milk supply, so I hope my perspective of with both sides will be able to aid someone else.

My recent survey (if you haven’t taken it, there’s still time!!) showed the majority of my readers are moms with young kids. So I’m curious to know, what were/are your experiences with feeding your babies? Did you try breastfeeding? Why or why not? What challenges or triumphs did you have?

Let’s respectfully discuss.

My method of freezer cooking continues to evolve depending on LIFE. A couple of months ago I shared on Once a Month Mom via video how I’m currently fitting make ahead meal prep into my schedule. In short, I rarely do it all in one day, but break it into manageable sessions (often once a week). So if you love the idea of cooking ahead, but the “once a month” idea intimidates you, check out that video for a few ideas. (Oh! P.S. I’m not that fat anymore!)

Here’s what I was able to get done in a couple of hours while Jared ran some errands and the kids played:

• Cooked and diced chicken
• Homemade chicken noodle soup
• Chicken and Rice Bake
• Breakfast Cookies

Breakfast: (Slimfast shake for me)

• Oatmeal x3
• Cereal, English muffins, oranges
• Breakfast Cookies, bananas x3

Kiddo Lunch: (Lean Cuisine meal or salad for me)

• Grilled Cheese sandwiches, chips, carrots
• Fish sticks, bread and honey, pineapple
• Cubed ham, string cheese, crackers, applesauce
• lunch at friend’s while mommy is away x3

{Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup}

Dinner:

• Chicken and Rice Bake, steamed broccoli
• Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, Freezer Rolls
• Ham, Funeral Potatoes, peas
• BBQ Pork sandwiches, coleslaw
• Leftovers
• Dinner Out
• Daddy Cooks (my work night): Scrambled eggs and toast

For more meal planning ideas, visit OrgJunkie.

{DIY Reuseable Meal Planner}

Over time this baby blog of mine has grown and grown and I’m excited to announce I’m now accepting sponsors. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor for the month of February, see here for more info.

You get the idea.

During one of my recent sitting sessions I was browsing Etsy. Oh, if only I had a million dollars. There is some of the COOLEST stuff on there! But besides window-shopping pleasure while I sit in my pajamas and nurse my baby, I love that Etsy gives indie businesses–many at-home moms like me,  the opportunity to open a store, pursue a dream, sell a craft. So in honor of setting goals and fulfilling dreams this new year, I thought it would be fun to host a little giveaway highlighting some fun finds from indie businesses who dared to dream.

January makes me think of blue-gray cold and rain, snow, wishing for sunshine, and trying to beat the winter blahs. If it were up to me, spring would start right after Christmas . So since it’s January and cold in my part of the world, I tried to go with a bit of a theme here. A bit of blue-gray, a bit of rain, a bit of sunshine. . . . (Just nod and smile and pretend you see it!)

A closer peek at what’s included in the January giveaway:

This adorable 6″x9″ wall calendar, tied with baker’s twine, features original illustrations by Sarah Jane. I’m particularly in awe of Sarah, her art, and her story, because I feel like in many ways it’s mine, only I’m still very much at the beginning. Her blog and her art is truly inspiring and I’m not ashamed to say I want to be like her when I “grow up.” *blush*

(Soooo, I’m secretly hoping no one enters this giveaway so that I can maybe keep this adorable chevron zippy pouch to myself! I can think of a million ways I’d use it. . .)

This 7″ x 4.5″ Gold and Grey Zippy Pouch is by Moxiemandie. Mandie, of Moxiemandie, creates funky, fun, bright accessories such as zippy pouches and pillow covers from modern, thrifted, and vintage fabric. I immediately loved Mandie when I read on her blog that she’s a girl who loves fabric and decided to do something about it. That, to me, is the spirit of following your dreams.

A happy little set of four notecards with coordinating envelopes, created by me–reminding us to look for the happy moments in life when skies are gray. These cards would be fun to send to a friend who needs a little pick-me-up, a sick neighbor, or just someone you love who makes you happy!

For scrapbooking or cardmaking, sending a pretty letter or package, or other creative projects, I’m sure you’ll love using this Turquoise Polka Dotted Japanese Washi Tape from Etsy seller, Pretty Tape, as well as teal bakers twine from Whisker Graphics.

To enter this super-duper fun giveaway, visit the Giveaway tab at the top of the blog and follow the directions. The January giveaway ends January 27th, 2012.

When I go to thrift stores, flea markets, and yard sales, I like to keep my eye out for old frames with lots of detail {character}. This one was $2. It’s ugly and was missing the glass.

But I could see it had some fun potential and that a  couple good coats of spray paint could fix it up.

After it was painted I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it, so while nursing the babe I turned to Pinterest for inspiration. (Yes, I’m a pro multi-tasker!) Pinterest inspired me to transform the old frame into a bulletin board for my work space. Repurpose is the official term, I think.

So then came the next part–kind of like a Choose Your Own Adventure book. What should I use for the “board?” Colorful or neutral fabric? Burlap or corkboard?

Since the frame and paint were only $3 and I was “repurposing” I decided to dig around the house and see what I already had that I could use to finish the board. I went with a destined-for-the-trash piece cardboard box–cut down to size, and a large remnant of neutral fabric, hidden in my stash.

If you’re making your own board, start by covering the cardboard with fabric by folding it fabric tightly around the edges, and securing with hot glue. (Can’t live without hot glue!)

Then staple the covered board to the back of the frame. After a glue gun, a staple gun is one of my must-have craft tools. Next I think I want a nail gun. (Unintentional theme here!)

Waaaa-laaaaa! The finished bulletin board. . .

It’s currently serving as home to my vision board, right above my workspace.  I love the pop of color it gives the normally-neutral wall. I love having a place to display my vision board, particularly where I work–to remind me why I’m doing what I’m doing, and where we’re wanting to go and what we’re wanting to become.

And I love that this simple display only cost $3!!

For more crafty/DIY inspiration, visit my boards on Pinterest.

Pin It

Baking with a two-year-old is like having a treat before actually having your treat.

What’s this mommy?

That’s butter.

What’s this, mommy?

That’s sugar.

What’s this, mommy?

That’s an egg.

Moving on. . . .

Oatmeal Cookies? Yes, Please.

Wish you all could join me for a glass of milk.

Hope your day is saaaaa-weeeeeet!!

Monday! My favorite day of the week. I love the fresh start Monday brings and getting back into routine after the weekend. Jared starts a new semester this week, and while I’ve loved having him home, it’s going to be great to get back onto a true routine. (Although, honestly, I’m a bit scared wondering if I can I really handle all four kids by myself!!)

I’m feeling especially chipper this week because postpartum wise, I’m feeling great and am looking forward to my six-week clearance to start exercising. I started Weight Watchers last week (I’ve done this after having all of my babies) and hope to be back to my pre-pregnancy weight before too long.

Here’s what’s up for this week:

Breakfast: (Slimfast shake for me)

• Oatmeal x3
• Cereal and English Muffins x2
• Scrambled eggs and toast
• Waffles

Kiddo Lunches: (Lean Cuisine meal or salad for me)

• Homemade Bagel Bites, baby carrots and ranch dressing
• Tuna Sandwiches, chips, apple slices
• Fish Sticks, bread with honey, apple slices
• Mac and cheese, frozen blueberries
• Homemade “lunchables” (crackers, cheese, meat), applesauce
• Peanut Butter and Jelly “Uncrustables”, cucumber slices

{Homemade Bagel Bites}

  Snacks:

• Crackers, string cheese, apple slices
• Popcorn, orange slices
• Banana Blueberry Muffins
• Oatmeal Cookies, milk
• Chocolate pudding, bananas
• Pretzels, orange slices

{Oatmeal Cookies}

Dinner:

• Mexican Chicken, brown rice
• Beef Stew, crackers, fruit salad
• Chicken Gumbo, Freezer Rolls
• Daddy Cooks (AKA my work night): Pancakes
• Sloppy Joes, chips, veggies and dip
• Dinner out or leftovers
• Pork Loin (crockpot), mashed potatoes, roasted broccoli, Freezer Rolls 

{Mexican Chicken}

For more meal planning ideas, be sure to visit Orgjunkie.

{DIY Reusable Meal Planner}

I’m a 29-year old stay-at-home mama to four munchkins–a boy and three girls, ages six and under.

I’ve been married for ten years to this cute boy (Jared), who teaches writing at a small college in rural Kentucky.

We’re midwest transplants originally from the Pacific Northwest, and miss our families terribly, but are learning to love where we live now too.

I love digital scrapbooking and am on a creative team for Jacque Larsen.

Once upon a time I also designed digital scrapbooking products, but am currently taking a break because I dreamed this crazy dream and decided to open an Etsy shop.

I have a weakness for children’s literature and have bookshelves full–mostly collected from thrift stores. Jared and I dream of writing and illustrating a children’s book someday. You know, when we have a spare minute.

I love to cook and eat, and have the awesome opportunity to contribute as the traditional menu writer at Once a Month Mom–a freezer cooking blog.

I’m active in my church, start way more projects than I can finish, love the color red, never get tired of watermelon and chocolate, have a daily date with my glue gun, and can’t get enough felty goodness.

I believe everyone has a story, and this is mine. You can read more about WHY I blog here.

I hope we can be friends.

Thanks for stopping by!!

When we were brainstorming ideas, Jared suggested the tagline “felt up by Pamela Donnis.” You know, ’cause most of my products are made from felt. But I wasn’t sure it would attract the kind of customer base I’m looking for

As we’re entering this new year and I’m in goal setting mode, and working out where I’d like my blog and business to go this year, I’m wondering if you’ll help me out?

Will  you answer just nine short questions to help me get a better sense of the Keeping Life Creative community? Who you are, where you come from, what you like, that kind of thing. All your answers are anonymous, but are really helpful in planning out blog posts, new products, etc.

Hugs and Kisses all around!! XOXOXOXO

Click here to take survey

This month I’ve  started reading (and am so far loving) EntreLeadership. Since I’m a huge Dave Ramsey fan anyway, it’s no surprise I’m wanting to highlight just about every paragraph, especially the parts on setting goals.

Dave teaches that goals need to be five things:  measurable, specific, written, time-sensitive, and yours and in order to meet your goals, you have to DO things to hit the goal within the time allocated. If you don’t act, that goal will “condemn you and call you a dreamer.”

I’m definitely a dreamer, and that’s one reason I love making an annual vision board. But I also want to be a do-er, and the best way for me to DO things to hit my bigger goals is to break them into manageable, less overwhelming, bite-size pieces.

To help break my 2012 goals down, I made a weekly list to add to my Motivated Moms planner. In each of the four boxes I set weekly goals/make to-do lists in different categories: personal, family, business, and community. Every goal/task might not be met during the week, but the planning (and “brain dumping”) helps relieve my tendency to get overwhelmed.

If you think this weekly planner might work in your home, business, or life responsibilities, feel free to download and print in black and white or color.

Happy goal setting!

Immediately I thought, “okay, I must be really tired,” and exhaustedly examined my car key, wondering if I was trying to drive home with the wrong one in or put it in backwards, etc. But I couldn’t find any reason for the car not to start. I panicked slightly and called my husband. He was in an appointment and couldn’t answer. I tried again, and again, and again for about 10 minutes, and could NOT figure out a reason the key wouldn’t turn. In my head I was desperately praying, yet trying to remain calm so the girls would stay calm. Finally I turned to my four-year-old.

“Emmy, I can’t get the car to start. Maybe we should say a prayer.”

I didn’t tell her I’d spent the last 10 minutes praying or that I was genuinely worried. The girls folded their arms around their ponies and bowed their heads while I said a sincere but simple prayer. Then I asked Emmy to say one too.

“Heavenly Father, please help start the car,” she prayed, completely trusting her prayer would start the car, and completely trusting her mom to get her home safely so they could go back to playing ponies.

After a few more key jiggles and an eventual return call from Jared, the key finally turned in the ignition as if the past 20 minute struggle hadn’t existed. The girls went back to their ponies, my husband went back to his appointment, and I drove back home to unload groceries. But my mind didn’t return to the exhausted daze I’d been in, and I became humbly aware with the reminder that I have the responsibility to not just physically get my kids home from the grocery store, but to teach them the things they need to get them Home–to our Father’s Home–safely.

“Teach me all that I must do, to live with Him someday.”

I do have specific goals for this new year, but I felt stuck as I realized most of my new year goals are similar to the ones I had in 2011. And then I started feeling guilty about the things I didn’t get accomplished in 2011. And the guilt killed my motivation and desire to dream and so I just sat there, uninspired with my pile of magazines, cake, and Bones re-runs.

What I eventually decided was it doesn’t really matter what I didn’t do in 2011. Especially considering the big curveballs that had to be worked out last year. So what? Maybe I got off course from my original goals a bit. This year can be a year to clarify, recommit, and refuse to let guilt be a motivation squasher.

Dave Ramsey says goals need to be five things: measurable, specific, written, time-sensitive, and YOURS, otherwise we won’t move toward specific action and another year will go by without any real change. I also think when it comes to goals, I need accountability and sharing my goals helps me feel accountable and so here are some of my measurable, specific, written, time-sensitive goals for this year:

Personal:

• Daily scripture study and prayer
• Read 12 books (one per month)
• Lose pregnancy weight with diet and exercise
• Stay current with scrapbooking–starting with January 2012 photos

Family:

• Weekly date with Jared
• Monthly one-on-one date with each child
• Stay consistent with chores and daily routine
• Stay consistent with weekly family night
• Stay consistent with nightly scriptures and prayers
• Teach Emery to read
• Potty-train Serity
• Breastfeed Lydia until at least 12 months
• Encourage Ryan in his interests (t-ball? piano?)
• Summer swimming lessons for Ryan and Emmy

Homemaking:

• Keep up with daily housework using my Motivated Moms Planner
• Organize/purge closets
• Obtain a one-year supply of food storage
• Create 72 hour emergency kits and a family emergency plan
• Continue to freezer cook and write for Once a Month Mom
• Coupon like a pro!

Business:

• Create and stick to a weekly work schedule
• Set weekly work goals
• Create three new Etsy products a month
• Blog three to five times a week
• Advertise on other blogs
• Start accepting blog sponsors

Financial:

• Pay off van (tried for this last year, but got set back after a nasty car accident)
• Stick to cash envelopes
• Pay cash for summer trip to family reunion

Hooray for a new year of goal setting! What are you planning this year?

For the past several years Jared and I have traditionally made “vision boards” as part of our new year celebration. Having a new baby kept us close to home this year, so we spent New Year’s Eve cozied up with re-runs of Bones, chocolate cake, and a stack of old magazines–and worked on our 2012 goals.

The idea behind a vision board is that when you surround yourself with images of your goals–who you want to become, what you want to have, things you want to do, where you want to live, etc. your life starts to change to match those desires. But because I’m naturally very visual, a vision board works for me as “seeing” my goals helps me stay motivated and gives me clarity and direction. In my day-to-day, it’s easier for me to keep priorities, set boundaries, and say yes (or no) when I know my “vision.”

I started making magazine-collage vision boards and doodled dream lists way before I even knew these visuals had a proper term. Actually, this is a pretty funny story–when I was 14 and totally boy-crazy I journaled about the “perfect guy.” I was very specific about qualities I thought this “dream guy” should have, all the way down to my preference for brown eyes. I ended up finding that list several years later–while I was engaged to Jared.

Reading that list again was hilarious, but also eye-opening when I realized my future husband fit every single preference on that list–from personality traits to looks–except that he had blue eyes, not brown. Now that I have four children with amazingly beautiful blue eyes, I’m definitely glad I overlooked that one factor.

Just when we thought we were starting to get the hang of having four kids, Lyddie’s jaundice spiked high enough that we ended up back in the hospital for five more days–after that initial six day stay.

Jared heroically kept everything afloat at home so that I could dedicate my time to helping our baby get better, but that second round of hospital stay was particularly difficult for me. My postpartum emotions raged, stitches throbbed, and cracked nipples bled as I lay on the hospital bed watching my lethargic baby sleep under the billi light. I cried about not being able to hold her or heal her. I cried because I was lonely. I cried because I wanted to be home with my family. I cried that the tree that wasn’t up yet, the Christmas traditions weren’t done, the preparations for holiday company hadn’t been made, and that there were Etsy orders that hadn’t been filled.

On Lyddie’s eighth day in the hospital I stole a moment away to take a shower. I was bawling, silently praying, and letting the hot water roll over my saggy skin when I felt the quiet message “Count Your Blessings.” It was a humble reminder that as desperate as I was feeling, there was still so much in my life to be grateful for and that it was silly to fret over sending out Christmas cards or purchasing stocking stuffers when I was being given the gift of quiet alone time with my fourth newborn.

Lyddie and I made it home from the hospital a few days before Christmas–in time for our holiday company, last minute shopping, and plenty of festive traditions. But the spirit of the holiday remained much quieter this year as my mind rejected much of the holiday bustle, and instead focused on the birth of our Savior and the blessing I had of being “home for the holidays” with my family.

I hope you and yours had a wonderful holiday as well. See you in 2012?

But now that she’s here, I can’t imagine not having her be part of our family. I’m forever amazed at how much wiser God’s plan is.

We were in the hospital for six days. I’m so happy to be home, but am moving really slow and have spent most of the time since we’ve been home glued to the couch with lots of medicine and a heating pad. Thank goodness for an amazing husband who has stepped up and picked up the pieces of everything I can’t. And for sweet friends who have brought yummy food and taken care of my kids, and especially for the many kind thoughts and prayers.

December 5th, 6:04 pm

7 pounds, 6 ounces

***

It was a difficult labor so I may need some extra time to recover, but will be back as soon as I can!

Today only, Living Social, a daily deals site is offering a booklet of vouchers to McDonalds. For $13 you get a booklet of coupons for FIVE free Big Macs and FIVE free large fries.

I’m thinking these coupons would be a fun clutter-free stocking stuffer, or gift for a college student (I have four college-age siblings!), or even to keep in the glovebox to give to the homeless holding the cardboard sign at the corner of Walmart (my soft spot). And most likely I’ll probably even keep a few extra coupons in our “date” envelope.

Here’s how to get the deal:

• Sign-up for a Living Social account or login to your existing account.
• Purchase the McDonalds Deal.
• Receive a coupon booklet in the mail for five FREE Big Macs and five FREE large fries.

Every afternoon around 3:30pm my kids are STARVING. Like, I’m sure they haven’t had anything to eat all day long starving. Afternoon snack is usually something simple that satisfies but won’t fill them up too much before dinner–fruit, crackers and cheese, yogurt, popcorn. But my kids love to help me in the kitchen and sometimes it’s fun to make a little something together. We’ve been loving Chex mix lately, and this chocolate caramel one is super easy and really tasty (and perfect for the occasional unhealthy after-school snack).

Start by unwrapping about 25 caramels. (I rounded it to 26 so we could practice counting by 2′s.) While we unwrapped Ryan entertained us with newly-learned versions of “Jingle Bells, Batman Smells.” Jared and I were just talking the other night about how elementary-school jokes are still the same as when we were kids.

Add 2 TBSP milk and 2 TBSP butter to the caramels and melt in the microwave. Then add 6 cups Chex and stir until coated. Snitching is inevitable.

Optional, but really tasty is to add a couple of handfuls of M&Ms. Then spread on a surface (waxed paper, foil, cookie sheet) to set.

Caramel Chocolate Chex Mix

(adapted from a recipe by Chex)

• 6 cups Chex cereal
• 25 caramels
• 2 TBSP milk
• 2 TBSP butter
• 1 cup M&Ms

Our family loves Chex cereal, so I’m super excited to pass on this little giveaway to YOU! The prize pack, sponsored by the awesome people at My Blog Spark and Chex includes:

A couple of weeks ago I decided we needed more organization and display space in our “office” area and so I went to the hardware store for supplies.

A few rough boards and a few coats of paint later. . .

Much better!

Someday I hope we’ll have an actual office instead of having to use the corner of our bedroom, but since this is the space what we have to work with now, at least it’s not such a messy eye-sore anymore.

One pre-baby project done, way more to go!! Hoping this “nesting” instinct keeps up!

With less than three weeks until my due date, we kept our Thanksgiving really casual with just our little family of soon-to-be-six. Jared and I attempted to sleep in (meaning we didn’t set the alarm) but awoke much earlier than desired under a giggling dogpile of children who had helped themselves to a box of Chex and were ready to play.

We cooked a frozen pizza for lunch, watched Netflix movies, and put together a new-to-us ( $60 flea market score!) set of bunk beds for the girls before making a pumpkin pie, whipping up some instant mashed potatoes, and heating a frozen chicken & stuffing casserole for Thanksgiving dinner.  

Initially I was pretty pouty about the whole plan, whining that it just didn’t feel like Thanksgiving without a glutenous turkey dinner with family and friends and stuffing our faces with way too much pie before a long afternoon nap. But my husband is wise and good at bringing me back to reality at times I need it and this year–with this gigantic pregnant belly and extended family 2,000 miles away–a casual Thanksgiving was best.

Some things I was especially thankful for this weekend:

• Children who’ve learned how to get their own bowls of breakfast cereal (oh how I hope that doesn’t mean I’m becoming a “stay-in-bed mom!”)
• A full freezer
• A handy husband (the flea market bunks were ugly, but with a good sanding and a few coats of paint they’re looking awesome!)
• A comfy couch (the only way I can sleep these last pregnant days)
• Peppermint ice cream
• Continued Etsy sales and faithful blog readers
• Serity’s easy transition from the crib to her new “big girl bed”
• Late November rain (versus snow)
• Six-year-old love notes

I usually try to avoid taking all the kids shopping with me. I’ve learned how to handle it, and they are generally pretty good, it’s just not a battle I really love to pick if I can help it. In any case, like I said, I was feeling ambitious and didn’t want to wait until Jared got home from work, so I loaded everyone up for the hardware store, chose out some wood planks, screws, and brackets, and only had one major child meltdown. I felt quite accomplished!

Then it was out to the van to load the kids and the boards when a teenager, about 14, with the most heartbreaking southern drawl approached.

Ma’am, can I help you with those?

Since I seem to think I’m superwoman I did wonder for a half-second what I needed help with. Ha. Then remembering my pregnant belly looks like it will explode at any moment, that I still had kids to buckle, and that the boards were probably heavier than I should be lifting right now, I graciously accepted.

It took him a third of the time it would have taken me to maneuver the wood into the back of the van, and probably spared me a few Braxton Hicks. When the job was done, the young man went back to the vehicle next to me, put his iPod earplugs back in, and continued to wait for his mom or dad inside the store. No else was around, no parent told him to help, no girls were nearby to impress, no payment was expected. Just good ol’ fashioned southern hospitality. As I left the parking lot I was overcome with emotional gratitude and wanted to hug his mom.

{My shelf building helper}

Every day as I wade through power struggles, whining, and tantrums, I know in the back of my mind that the principles I’m teaching my kids are right. Some principles are easy to teach. Like, as much as my kids hate doing their chores or eating broccoli at dinner, I know clean or healthy habits will help them later in their life and so we give them responsibilities, and require bites of everything at every meal.

But then there are principles like being honest, kind, and helpful that have grayer lines for me. I can explain these principles, I can be a consistent example exercising them myself, but it seems only time and prayer and trust will truly tell if I’ve done my part.

Some teenage boy’s mom did do her part as an intentional parent. Who knows if she’ll ever know the act of service or the effect her son had on me. But the example of that boy gives me hope that the hard parenting work we’re putting in now does pay off and I pray my own goofy, belching, nosepicking, stinky-sock, six-year-old son (and daughters!) will grow up to be as mature.

I come from a family of bread bakers. Fresh dinner rolls are a given when visiting my grandma, and some of my best childhood memories are of eating a thick slice of my mom’s hot-from-the-oven wheat bread slathered with butter and homemade jam.

Making homemade bread has intimidated me though, mostly because of the time involved, and so my version of “fresh bread” with dinner has been to pop a can of refrigerated crescent rolls. Until recently.

A couple of years ago my husband’s job transplanted us to the mid-west–2,000 miles from our west coast hometowns and this year my little family will be making own Thanksgiving traditions. While I know no one will complain if refrigerated crescent rolls accompany our turkey dinner, blame it on those pregnancy hormones–I’m feeling homesick for grandma’s Thanksgiving cooking. And so with the holidays soon approaching, and missing my grandma’s hot dinner rolls, I decided to conquer my breadmaking fear.

This is a basic dinner roll (although probably the best I’ve ever had!) which I’ve adapted to easily to store the dough in the freezer until you’re ready to bake. For an extremely busy mom, it makes fresh bread for dinner a delicious possibility because all I have to do is grab some frozen balls from the freezer in the morning, let them thaw and rise on the counter all day, and then pop in the oven just before we eat–about the same amount of time it takes to open and bake a can of crescent rolls. And believe me, these rolls are better any day. In fact, my husband and kids have been asking for them almost every night lately!

Come visit me at Once a Month Mom for the recipe! So, so good.

Around here, naptime, after bedtime, and every spare second in between has been filled with “manufacturing” as Jared calls it. Yes, the Heartsy/Etsy sale went well, for which I am humbled and grateful for.

I wish I could say the hard work and money earned from the promotion was going toward something fun like Christmas surprises, or maybe a new laptop, but in reality, it’s going toward bills.

The bill this money is going toward is kind of exciting though.

Two years ago we found ourselves sleeping in the hospital for a few extra days when our baby girl decided to come a bit too early.

Then exactly a year later, we were back–celebrating her birthday in the hospital again, this time with an infection.

She’s a totally healthy, very active, chatterbox two-year-old now, so no worries there and we’re of course grateful for the medical care our daughter received.

But once her health was taken care of, it was time to start thinking about the medical bills. Insurance did cover most of it, thankfully, but we’ve been plugging along with our part and I was so excited to be able to call the last collector yesterday and tell them I was ready to pay the rest in full.

So as I’m assembling felt story sets, giving my printer a workout, and making multiple trips to the post office, my heart is full of gratitude and I want to thank you for supporting my art and thank you for helping me support my little family.

We still have way too much debt, but having one major bill paid off is motivating, and I know that if we stay (as Dave Ramsey says) “gazelle intense,” we’ll continue to work through it.

The cookbook section is one of my favorite places to browse. It’s common for me to spend a half-hour perusing a stack recipe books at the local bookstore or library while my kids check out their own favorite genres.

Besides loving cookbooks, I also have a weakness for cooking blogs. I love that food blogs are free to browse, often have sinfully tempting photos, and don’t take up storage space in my kitchen. I especially love being able to save and organize the recipes I want to try with just a click (or pin!!) on my computer. BUT, sometimes there is a recipe I love too much to keep saved on the computer, and so I print it and shove the loose-leaf paper in with my other recipe books.

Great organization system, right?

Not surprisingly, my loose collection was getting WAY to cluttered, not to mention I could never find that recipe again, so it was time to conquer and I made myself a recipe binder. There’s nothing profound about this system, but it’s made a big difference in my attempt to get better organized–something I need more of these days.

To organize my recipes, I used a basic three-ring binder, and then created a cover page to slip inside the plastic.

Next I organized my recipes in different categories:

• Appetizers and Snacks
• Asian
• Beverages
• Breakfast
• Breads
• Desserts
• Grilling
• Holiday
• Meat
• Mexican
• One-dish Meals
• Pizza and Pasta
• Salads
• Seafood
• Side Dishes and Veggies
• Soup and Stew

Between me and my little cooking helpers, it’s almost guaranteed we’ll have meal-prep spills, so I put the recipes in clear plastic sleeves to protect them from splashes. It’s also a good way to store several odd-size recipes. My new recipe binder is now perfect for all those loose printed-out recipes I want to save from my favorite cooking blogs–and more.

Photocopies . . .

Magazine Articles . . .

Handwritten notes from my mama . . .

Cooking class handouts . . .

 Scribbled notes from recipe creations . . . ETC.

Besides being better organized in your own kitchen, I think a recipe binder would make a really great gift for a college student, newlywed, or anyone who eats, really! In those early years I remember spending a lot of time on the phone with my mom or at my grandma’s kitchen table over Thanksgiving break copying down my favorite family recipes. An already-organized binder would have been AMAZING.

If you’re ready to create your own binder, you can purchase printable or professionally printed versions of these categories from my Etsy shop!

It’s November 1st, which means a new round of freezer cooking menus at Once a Month Mom!! Have you done any freezer cooking lately? This crazy-busy holiday time of year it’s nice to have a few extra meals stashed away.

Here’s a roundup of freezer-friendly meals I’ve made recently:

Served with warm black beans, tortilla chips, and plenty of salsa, my picky six-year-old claimed this creamy enchilada dish the BEST.THING.EVER.

With a gingerbread candle burning, and a bushel of apples waiting to be peeled, there’s nothing more I could want to get ready for my favorite season except maybe a helping of this hearty Chicken Stuffing Bake.

My grandma and then my mom often made this meaty casserole. There’s nothing gourmet or secret about it, it’s just an inexpensive, simple, comfort meal that’s continued to fill bellies for four generations.

This simple rice and bean dish is the perfect accompaniment to your favorite Mexican meal such as tacos, burritos, or enchiladas, but also makes a tasty meatless main dish when served with warm tortillas, or on a bed of lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream.

Chicken and veggie stew topped with biscuits. Can a meal get any more comforting? Serve this one-dish casserole as-is, with a simple green salad, or a bowl of warm cinnamon applesauce, and you’ve got dinner. Pass the napkins, please.

This family-favorite features familiar fall spices and make me long for a cool, crisp Saturday morning in which we eat a big breakfast before heading out to rake (and of course jump in!) leaves.

My family loves chili, and we often eat cornbread with it, so one day I thought, why not combine the two? Cornbread Chili Bake combines the flavors, and made the meal much less messy than a bowl of chili was for my toddlers.

My broccoli-hesitant kids think these veggie-filled roll ups are okay. Sometimes, I think it’s all in the presentation.

These muffins mock the fall-favorite pumpkin muffin, and were a good way to introduce/sneak in/use up sweet potatoes in the mouths of my young and older babes.

Cranberry Chicken is one of those classic “fix-and-forget” meals I find myself coming back to over, and over.

This is post is part of the series: 31 Days of Intentional Parenting. Find all the posts in this series here.

Since Jared has type-one diabetes, we’re fairly conscious of what we feed our family and have tried to teach our kids about good food choices, but it’s definitely challenging when they see all the treats at the grocery store, play with friends who’s parents don’t follow the same guidelines, go to school or church parties and potlucks, or when our sweet grandmotherly neighbor loads them up with a baggie of candy before sending them home.

So since Halloween is almost here, CANDY is abundant everywhere I look. And we’re guilty too, with a stash hiding in the master closet for “trick-or-treaters ” (and after-the-kids-go-to-bed treats!).

I’m wondering what you all feel about this candy situation.

Do you let your kids go trick-or-treating and eat whatever they want until it’s gone?

Do you stretch it out one piece a day for months?

Do you let them choose a few pieces and get rid of the rest?

I feel like our family needs to establish a system while our kids are still young (like: NOW) so that I don’t have to fight about candy every year.

{Halloween 2010}

Please, share ideas!!

I would like to believe that when our intentions are good, good things happen, and so I’m super excited to be a featured seller on Heartsy this week. If you aren’t familiar with Heartsy, it’s a fabulous “deal” site that features independent artists (usually Etsy shops), and offers vouchers at a discounted price. It’s a win-win deal for everyone because the artist (me!) gets more exposure, and the customer (you!) gets a fantastic price on unique, handmade gifts. Having the opportunity to be featured at this time of year is especially exciting as we are coming upon the holiday season and it’s time to be thinking about Christmas presents. So here’s the deal Heartsy is offering on my shop this week: Buy a $10 voucher, and get a $21 credit to my shop!! That’s over 50% off (and believe me, it’s the cheapest discount there will ever be!)!! The $21 credit expires in one month, and CAN be applied toward shipping. So it’s a pretty great deal all around. In case you need a little more convincing , here are just a few handmade products you can purchase with your $21 credit: For teachers, daycare providers, children’s librarians, or YOUR kids:

{The Very Hungry Caterpillar felt story set}

{Printed Bookplates}

 {I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly felt story set}

For Newlyweds, College Students, or ANYONE who eats:

{Baking-Themed Recipe Cards}

{Recipe Binder Cover and Categories}

{Printable Meal Planner}

For Grandma, Best Friend, Neighbor, or YOU:

{Just a Note notecards}

{Thinking of You notecards}

Once you browse the shop, if there is something you don’t see that you would like, feel free to send me a convo and we can chat about a custom order.

Happy Heartsy shopping, and THANKS in advance for supporting handmade.

When we moved across the country to Kentucky, Jared drove the moving truck, and I drove along side in our car. It took us five days to make the drive with (then) two little kids and a very uncomfortable pregnant mama. I’m not sure we would do it that way again, but you learn by experience, right?

During that road-trip we had to be creative in order to keep the kids entertained and Jared showed Ryan how to “ask” a semi truck to honk by pumping his arm up and down in a “honking” motion. Then four-year old Ryan was fascinated and spent incredible amounts of that long cross-country drive staring out the window waiting for us to pass a semi so he could encourage the truck to honk for him. His head barely came above the bottom of the car window so most truck drivers couldn’t see him, but when he did get an occasional honk, the success was enough to fuel him for the next round of semi trucks.

Shortly afterwards we bought a second family car–this one with tinted windows–making it now impossible for truck drivers to see Ryan’s honk requests. Last week our family left our small, country town and headed to the big city for the day. We had plenty of freeway to cover, making semi-truck-honking-requests ample for my six-year-old as well as his four- and two-year-old sisters. Even though we reminded them the windows were too dark for the truck drivers to see through, the three kiddos attempted anyway–holding out for the hope of a good, deep honk. But after the fifth or sixth unsuccessful request we could tell they were disappointed.

We were coming up on yet another truck on my passenger side when Jared suggested I “ask” the driver to honk.

“No,” I shyed away.

“What, are you embarrassed?” he asked.

“Uh, yeah. There’s a big difference between a kid and an adult asking for a honk.”

“Come on, do it for the kids. Be a silly mommy.”

“You do it.”

“The truck’s on your side. He can’t see me. Come on, I’ll slow down as we pass.”

And so Jared slowed, and I looked over at the friendly-looking truck driver, who looked back at me, (as my kids are fervently making honking motions behind me) and I smiled as we passed.

“Pam!” he whispered. “Did you chicken out?”

“Ugh, it’s just so embarrassing.”

“Do it,” he egged.

I didn’t want to. But I also knew he wasn’t going to back down (and the kids weren’t going to give up pumping their little arms until they got a honk), so when the next opportunity came and Jared slowly passed, I took a deep breath (avoided looking at him in fear of chickening out again), turned toward the old truck driver, sweetly smiled, and motioned for him to “honk.”

For a brief second my self-fulfilling prophecy came true. My cheeks flushed hot when when the old man gave me one of the dirtiest looks I’ve ever seen and rolled his eyes. But then, then–he blared his horn as we passed.

Jared and the kids roared in excitement.

“He honked for us!! He saw us!!” cheered the kids, oblivious to Jared’s encouragement and my inner conflict.

I looked over at my husband who was beaming. I looked back at the kids, still congratulating themselves for having “achieved” a honk. The enthusiasm spread and I started laughing and shrugged off the embarrassment. So what if the old man was annoyed?

The happiness of my children was well worth it.

{Tough Trucks, Black and White Type, Sanded Solids, Newsies by Jacque Larsen}

It’s been hard for me to want to write about intentional parenting lately, because I feel like I haven’t been very intentional. At 33 weeks pregnant–my body is gigantic, my energy-level is minimal, and keeping up with the chaos is overwhelming. It seems we are coasting in survival mode with too much TV, frozen pizza, and a messy house.

I was on the verge of emotional and physical exhaustion and was ready to crawl in my bed with a bag of the “trick-or-treating” chocolate when when Jared took me on a rare (away from home) date this weekend. It wasn’t anything fancy, but having the motivation to step out of my yoga pants, put on some new eyeshadow, and have the car door opened for me was just the boost I needed to rejuvenate.

I feel like I’m a better mom, a more intentional mom, when I take a break. Sometimes it’s actually leaving the house (grocery shopping my myself is one of my favorite things to do!), and sometimes it’s closing my bedroom door and working on a project that’s just for me. How about you?

What do you do to recharge your parenting battery?

This is post is part of the series: 31 Days of Intentional Parenting. Find all the posts in this series here.

Since becoming PTA President, my main goal has been to increase parent involvement. Originally that goal was received with a lot of criticism and negativity, but when you know something is right and can’t shake that gut feeling, you press on.

At the first PTA meeting I’d ever attended, I was one of three parents. This month we had 32 parents join our discussion. Improvement? I’d say so! (Although the credit for increased involvement doesn’t go to me, I’m still giddy and would like to hope our hard work is paying off. Time will tell.)

Joining the PTA is obviously not the only way to get involved in our kids’ education, it’s just the example that’s close to my heart right now. But being involved in our kids education, whether home, public, or private, in my mind–is a must.

Why?

We all want the best for our kids and research shows consistent results. When parents are involved their child’s education, kids are more likely to:

• earn better grades
• score higher on tests
• pass their classes
• attend school regularly
• have better social skills
• show improved behavior
• be more positive in their attitude toward school
• complete homework assignments
• graduate and continue their education

(source: PTO Today)

How?

There are lots of ways to be involved in our children’s education. Here are just a few ideas:

• Talk to them about their day. Find out what they are learning, who their friends are, and what a “normal” day is like.
• Read, read, read. To them, with them, next to them.
• Make homework a consistent part of the daily routine.
• Have high-expectations, and praise success.
• Visit their classroom to see what they do at school and how they interact with others.
• Volunteer to help in the classroom.
• Attend student events and performances.
• Get to know their teacher.
• Be part of decision-making committees such as the PTA.

This is post is part of the series: 31 Days of Intentional Parenting. Find all the posts in this series here.

One day Ryan came home from school very interested in “working out” so I took the kids to an outdoor track where he could run around and “build his muscles.”  On the way there I was curious about the the sudden increased interest in exercise.

“Have you been talking about exercise in PE?” I asked.

Then he casually explained he wanted to start working out because his football-playing classmate accused him of having “no muscles.”

Although my six-year old didn’t seem hurt by the comment, a mommy-bear instinct came out because I’ve been so worried about starting Ryan in school a year younger than most of his classmates. Since he’s younger, he’s smaller than many of the other kids. While we walked on the track, I calmly reminded him that people come in all shapes and sizes, but that his brain was big!!

And then I let the comment bother me the rest of the day.

Later that night as Jared and I had our five-minute talk, we discussed my continued concern for Ryan’s small-for-his-grade-size. Jared related the conversation he’d had with our son as he tucked him in at bedtime, and assured me Ryan’s feelings weren’t harmed.

“He knows who he is,” my husband said.

It’s a simple example–but for me, illustrates an important principle. As much as I want to shelter my kids from being hurt, I know there will be many, many times in their lives when they’re criticized, teased, or even bullied. It happens to all of us. Since moving them to the middle of nowhere, cutting them off from contact of the “evil world”, and protecting them from all hurt and disappointment isn’t practical or even good for them, I feel I can be an intentional parent by arming them with a shield of self-respect. For our family, it means teaching our kids that they are children of a Heavenly Father, that everyone is unique in their talents and abilities, and that we all have something to offer.

It seems to me so many problems could be solved if our kids truly understand who they are, what potential they have, and that no matter what others think or say–they have divine worth. And that everyone around them does too.

Baking has become a Sunday afternoon tradition. The kids always look forward to “helping” since they usually get to lick the beaters or scrape the bowl clean.

A few months ago we were sitting around the kitchen table, eating our home-baked goodies and reading a chapter book when one of the kids named the experience “cookie and a bookie.” The phrase stuck and now having “cookie and a bookie” is something we look forward to every Sunday, usually after church and right before afternoon naps.

One time my sister-in-law said, “I like to make frosted sugar cookies at Halloween because there are too many other good treats to make at Christmas-time.” Sounds good to me!

Hope your weekend was “sweet!”

This is the tenth post in the series: 31 Days of Intentional Parenting. Find all the posts in this series here.

When my husband, Jared, was nine-years-old his dad asked him to sweep out the wind-blown leaves from underneath the deck.

“Why?” Jared protested. “The wind will just blow more leaves under there.”

After explaining the real reason for cleaning out the leaves, Jared’s dad (who is one of the hardest working people I know), added-on, “You have to do it because you have to learn how to work.”

“But I already know how to work.” Jared argued.

A patient father’s example still stands out as my husband remembers his dad responding, ”You have to learn how to work, and you have to learn how to love it.”

As I grew up the oldest of eight kids, I learned similar work-ethic lessons. There were many, many, times I resented the work and responsibility expected of me–and did my share of complaining as well. But one thing Jared and I can look back on and be grateful for is that as children, we learned how to work, and how to work hard, and even, how to love it.

Now that we have our own kids, we’re trying to teach them the importance of work, and chores are a normal part of our six, four, and two-year old’s’ days. Housework isn’t always fun, and our kids do complain, but I feel like it’s a battle we need to continue to fight because participating in chores and working together creates a sense of  teamwork in our family.

I want them to learn to respect our surroundings by taking care of our home.

I want them to feel a the confidence and self-worth that comes from accomplishing something hard.

And I hope implementing chores will teach my son AND daughters how to keep a home so that when they are on their own these habits will be firmly established.

{washing the chalkboard wall}

What about you? How do you feel about putting kids to work?

This is the ninth post in the series: 31 Days of Intentional Parenting. Find all the posts in this series here.

When I think about the kind of story I want to write for my family and consider my own childhood, most of my best memories are centered around a family tradition, and holidays seem like a natural time to establish or carry-on traditions.

Last year my little family went “booing” for the first time. Our kids had so much fun we decided to do it again this year, and hopefully it will continue as a family tradition.

{FREE printables here}

We put together goodie bags and talked over dinner about who we’d like to “boo.” Then as it began to get dark we loaded up in the car with pajamas and “blankies” and our “booing bags.” The anticipation of the secret deliveries as well as the conversations we had on the drive were just as fun as the doorbell ditching and the kids are still talking about it, several days later. Such as simple activity, but definitely memories in the making.

Why are traditions important?

An article from Ohio State University says, “Families that have the strongest ties have the most traditions or rituals in their life. These rituals provide a sense of continuity, understanding, and love that strengthens family closeness. These are also opportunities for families to have “good times” and establish good memories to build upon when times aren’t so good.”

What are some of your family traditions? As my kids are getting old enough to remember and understand our family activities, I’d love fresh ideas on traditions we could implement.

As Jared and I were having our nightly “five minute chat” I was stressing out that I was three days behind in my blogging series. And then here’s the thing he taught me about intentional parenting. When you are trying–really trying–real life gets in the way, and blogging has to take a step back, even if you are planning to write for 31 days straight.

And that’s exactly what happened this weekend. Instead of making time for writing, I spent the time hanging out with my husband and little people.

Instead of writing, Jared and I had an at-home date with friends, pizza, homemade apple crisp and ice cream, games, and late night laughs.

We went to the park for a picnic, ate fried chicken and fruit salad, and played horseshoes.

We went to our favorite local farm for a hayride to the pumpkin patch where we experienced a first bee-sting, chose perfect carving gourds, and indulged in pumpkin swirl ice cream.

We went to church, and took lazy Sunday afternoon naps, played Legos, baked mint brownies, and read Charlotte’s Web.

Yep, this weekend, real life happened, all of us together. But that in my opinion, is what intentional parenting is all about.

This is the eighh post in the series: 31 Days of Intentional Parenting. Find all the posts in this series here.

While doing our usual Monday morning grocery shopping Emery spotted the most beautiful shade a four-year-old-could-imagine bottle of purple nail polish.

“Mommy!” she gasped. “Can we get this?”

I usually have a rule that we don’t ask for treats, toys, etc. at the grocery and was pretty focused on my list and the budget and the task so my first thought was to say no and continue down the aisle. But then, because I’m trying to practice listening to my kids better and slowing down a bit, I caught myself and leaned down to examine the bottle of polish with her.

“WOW. Isn’t that so pretty? Would you paint your fingers or your toes that color?”

Realizing I had this moment I could spend with my middle child, I checked the price tag. (I even had a coordinating coupon!)

It cost me $1.36 for a bottle of nail polish, but gained me a priceless mommy-daughter afternoon activity that I almost missed out on just because I was so busy with my list. A reminder to slow down and occasionally, ditch the list.  Because there will always, always be more to do, but there won’t always be four-year-old nail-painting parties.

This is the seventh post in the series: 31 Days of Intentional Parenting. Find all the posts in this series here.

A few months ago our family took a Saturday outing the the home improvement store to get some stuff to–you know, make home improvements. After our shopping trip Jared and I were busily working on our project when we noticed Ryan playing with a handful of nuts and washers. Afraid they were important parts to something, I questioned our then-five-year old about where the hardware came from.

He was silent for a minute, then with a bowed head quietly admitted he’d taken them from the store and showed us the additional pieces stashed in his pocket.

Immediately, but gently, my husband, Jared, told Ryan to go put his shoes on. I shot him a questioning look and he replied to both of us, “We’re going to take the washers back to the store. They don’t belong to us.”

I have to admit, at that point going back to the store was not my first thought. We were in the middle of a project, and it would cost more in gas and time to drive back to town to return five tiny washers. But Jared was wisely thinking about the lesson to be learned and the long-term consequences.

The next part of the story is that a loving father then took the time out of his weekend project to drive a humble five-year old back to the store to return the hardware. The customer service cashier was reportedly soft, and kind as she knelt to Ryan’s level, accepted the washers and the apology, and confided it had been bubble gum when she was his age.

Honesty is a challenging concept to teach, particularly with how dishonest much of the world seems to be. I believe though, that honesty will always win in the long run.

It’s important to praise kids when they have done something honest. When we sense hesitation in telling the truth, we always remind our kids they will be in less trouble if they tell the truth and then try to stay calm when the truth does come so they will trust us enough to tell the truth again.

Another thing we’ve done to teach our young children honesty is play a game to help them the difference between truth and a lie. It’s simple–just ask them to give a thumbs up when you say something that’s true, and a thumbs down when you say something untrue. (or you could have them say “true” or “not true” instead of thumbs up and thumbs down) Vary the examples, some serious, some silly to gauge whether they understand the difference. For example:

• “The sky is green.” (thumbs down)
• “Candy tastes sweet.” (thumbs up)
• “We see with our ears.” (thumbs down)
• “Chickens lay eggs.” (thumbs up)
• Then illustrate with age appropriate behaviors, for example, cut a piece of paper and say, “I didn’t cut the paper.” (thumbs down)

In all though, I’m pretty sure the best way to teach honesty is through example. It doesn’t matter how many times we teach them to tell the truth if they see us telling lies ourselves.

Kids learn what they live.

This is the sixth post in the series: 31 Days of Intentional Parenting. Find all the posts in this series here.

Last week I took the girls to the doctor and the nurse asked how much TV they watch in a day. I instantly had this mommy-fail moment when I realized, wooooow, they watch way more than I’d like, and probably more than is “recommended.” My first thought was to explain that it’s because this has been a really tough pregnancy, blah, blah, blah, and that “normally” they watch less–but the excuses don’t really matter because I know I need to do better.

To my kids amazement, I grew up without TV, video games weren’t allowed, and the internet wasn’t yet, so my siblings and I entertained ourselves by going outside, reading books, playing games, doing craft projects, and using our imaginations.

I don’t think all TV is evil, and my kids have learned a lot from great websites like Starfall, and ABCya. But there is definite value in limiting screen time, encouraging imaginative play, and of course reading.

I’m curious, what’s your family’s philosophy on “screen time?”

This is the fifth post in the series: 31 Days of Intentional Parenting. Find all the posts in this series here.

Ryan turned six in September, just before the school’s “cut-off” date. When it came time to think about kindergarten it was stressful to decide whether to enroll him in school, keep him out another year, or homeschool him. But because Jared and I both have a teaching background, we felt he was academically ready and ultimately decided to go ahead and place him in school.

This means he started first grade this year as a still-five-year-old, and the youngest in his class. But his age hasn’t held him back–a few weeks into this school year his first grade teacher recommended he start attending second grade part of the day (specifically for reading and spelling). According to his test results and behaviors, he’s reading on a third grade+ level.

Now since it’s my blog I guess I can brag just a little about this proud mommy moment, but my point of sharing isn’t just to gloat . Since he’s a good reader, and Emery (almost four) is following the same pattern, I’ve had a lot of friends wonder what my “secret” is. Of course I’m bias in thinking my children are brilliant, but honestly and objectively, my kids are probably pretty average, and this is a “secret” that can be passed any child.

My secret (which really isn’t so much of a secret) to raising good readers, is just to read. A lot. And that’s it. No special program, no crazy supplies to buy. Not even a huge amount of time. Just good old-fashioned turn off the TV and video games, and read to your kids.

(Now that I’ve shared the secret can I get a book contract, a speaking engagement, maybe a sponsor?)

We–the parents, have more control over our kids than we sometimes like to think. And I don’t mean this in a tyrannical-limit-their-independence-stiffle-their-personalities kind of way. I mean, that we can decide to be intentional parents. We can decide what we think is best for our kids, and then implement that.

For me, raising good readers was important and so I started to prepare even before they were born. But don’t get discouraged if it wasn’t that way for. It is easier the younger they are, but it’s never too late to start.

Here are just few things we do to make our home literature and reading rich and to encourage good readers:

• Have lots of books available. This doesn’t mean spend a lot of money! Ask grandparents for books for birthdays and Christmas, keep an eye out at yard sales, and make regular trips to the thrift store and flea markets. One of our favorite family activities is going to Goodwill to look at books.  I try to budget about $10 a month for this activity, and at $0.50 a book, we often come home with a large stack of new reads.

• Utilize the library. Take them to storytime if your library has a good program. Bring a bag, and let them choose a big stack of books. Kids are more likely to read if they’ve picked the book.

• Make reading time fun. The best way I know is to have fun yourself!! Use expression as you read, choose good quality books, use props and act out the stories, make a fort or fun “reading spot,” do activities or crafts that relate, etc. Guaranteed, if you think reading is boring, so will your kids.

• Keep books available wherever you go. We have a bag of books and literacy-themed activities that stays in the van and goes everywhere with us. When we have a wait at the doctor’s office, are in the long after-school pick-up line (or wherever!), the bag keeps my kids entertained and they are less likely to act up from boredom.

• Read at bedtime. Maybe it’s because they get to stall going to bed a few minutes more, but my kids love taking a stack of books with them to bed. (Jared and I also try to read a bedtime story to them along with scriptures and prayers, although in our family, that story is a “reward” for cooperating with the bedtime routine. If there is too much whining or they take too long to put their pajamas on or brush their teeth, they lose the bedtime story.)

• Incorporate reading with your kids into your daily/nightly routine. Make it one of those big rocks. If it’s not a priority, there will never be time for it.

• Don’t be afraid of chapter books without pictures. Teach your kids (even your young kids!) to stretch their attention spans and use their imaginations by making a “movie” of the story in their head. Try giving them paper and crayons while you read and have them illustrate their own pictures.

• And lastly, go turn off the blasted TV (I’m saying this one to myself!!), and just read.

This is the fourth post in the series: 31 Days of Intentional Parenting. Find all the posts here.

When I was in high school I had a friend who always went straight home after school–who wanted to go straight home after school instead of going somewhere to hang out. It seemed weird to me until he invited me over one day. When we got there, his mom was warm and friendly as we sat at the kitchen bar while she made dinner. We ate brownies and we did our homework, and chatted–with his mom, like best friends. He had the kind of home where kids–teenagers wanted to be.

My husband, Jared, has similar memories of his own childhood. He talks about times where he sat on the bar stool, talking to his mom in the kitchen while she rolled the pie dough. His memories of home are happy, comforting, safe. 

Before we had kids, we often talked about the kind of parents we would be in our “ideal” home, and these comfortable kitchen scenes often came to our minds as we agreed on the desire to have the kind of home where our kids would want to be. (And having a breakfast bar wouldn’t be too bad either!) When our kids are teenagers, we want them to be comfortable inviting over friends. We want them to think it’s cool to hang out with their family and to feel so accepted and loved in their own home that they don’t feel a need to give into peer pressure just to “fit in.”

I realize this all sounds very idealistic, but hey, it’s my dream, and you should always dream big.

Since my kids are little, we’ve got a ways to go before those high school years, but I still think a lot about what we need to do now to prepare for those days. Because I think what Jared and do now, as intentional parents, is what will lay the physical and emotional foundation for those later years.

The way I picture it at this stage is snuggling with a favorite blanket after a bad dream, having family dinners together, talking with them about their six-, four-, and two-year old days (and actually listening!), going out for ice cream, playing Chutes and Ladders (for the hundredth time), saying prayers and reading scriptures together, laughing at their silly jokes–the kinds of things that will help them feel safe, loved, and accepted.

Am I naive enough to think there won’t be outside influences, that they won’t want to spend time with friends, or that they’ll always confide in me? No. But I do hope that that we, as parents, can build the kind of relationships with our kids so that we–not the TV characters or their friends–become their heros. So that when (not if) the peer pressure and other challenges come–we are the ones to slay their dragons, and that they will feel safe coming home for refuge.

There’s a popular analogy that goes like this,

A teacher showed a large glass jar to his class. He proceeded to fill the jar with large rocks, then asked, ”Is the jar full?” They agreed that it was.

Then he picked up a box of pebbles, poured them into the jar, and shook lightly. The pebbles rolled between the rocks. Not quite full.

Next the teacher picked up a box of sand and poured that over the large rocks and pebbles. The sand filled all the empty spaces. Then the teacher explained this was an illustration of our life. If we place the sand (the “small stuff”) first, there will not be room for the large rocks (the most important things). But if we prioritize, and place the big rocks first, we can fit much, much more.

This is definitely more of a do-as-I-say-and-not-as-I-do concept, because prioritizing (placing my big rocks first)  is something that I usually struggle with. In the back of my mind I know though, if I’m keeping my priorities straight, I’m acting as a more “intentional parent” and my kids (who I say are my “priorities”) are less likely to hear, “not right now, maybe later, when I finish…”

There will always be time for catching up on e-mail, and washing the dishes, but there won’t always be time for tea parties, bug hunts, and snuggles during storytime, so those are the big rocks that must come first.

I’ve heard it said, the best thing you can do for your children is to love your spouse. And so before we even get to kids and parenting, I thought we should talk for a minute about husbands and that this would be a good “day one” post.

Thankfully, amazingly, I have an incrediblely supportive husband and I don’t have to go at this parenting adventure alone. We’ve been married for 10 years and there have been lots and lots of ups and downs in those 10 years. But we’re still here, still going strong, and plan to keep it that way.

Let’s be honest though. If parenting wasn’t the hardest job on my list, it would be marriage. And as much as I love that boy, he can drive me insanely crazy. That’s when I tend to get super cranky and witchy and take everything hormonal out on him. Not my proudest moments.

While we’re definitely not perfect, we try. Really hard. And so kicking off this 31 days of intentional parenting series, I’ll sharing a few things that have helped Jared and I stay strong together as partners and as parents, despite the rocky moments.

Nightly “5-minute talks”

We don’t set a timer or anything, so sometimes it’s more or less than five, but the idea is that we have a time set aside every day to each take “five minutes” to talk about whatever is on our minds. Sometimes it’s an issue that needs to be addressed, many times it’s a parenting concern/frustration, other times it’s just chatting about our day. But the main point is that we know if we have a problem that needs to be talked about, that’s the safe time to do it.

So if I’m annoyed that Jared didn’t take the garbage out before he left for work (or whatever), instead of holding a grudge or letting it build up with a million other little things until I explode and hate his guts for “not helping out” (ahem, not that I’ve ever done that), I know that I can just mention it in our talk later.

This is not to say that every little thing always needs to be brought up. Learn to pick your battles, let things go, and forgive. But do talk. For us, a little bit of preventive communication (5 minutes a day!) goes a long way in curbing the big blowups and helps us understand each other better.

Daily Scripture Study and Prayer

Along with taking time to communicate, we read and pray together every night before we go to bed. I know that the simple act brings the Spirit to our home and helps us communicate better about each other’s needs and our children’s needs.

Regular Date Nights

I’m always so jealous of couples who live close to family, as it’s not a luxury Jared and I have had our entire marriage. It’s made having regular (free) babysitters for date nights impossible. But we still make “dating” a priority.

Of course we love, love, love the occassional night out without the kids, and sometimes dream about the days the kids will be old enough that we can go away for a weekend, but for now, most of our dates are at home, after the kids have gone to bed.

Even though we are at home, it’s still important to make those times special. Simple things like changing out of the yoga pants, touching up the make-up, and spritzing some perfume help me move out of mommy-mode and into wife-mode.

When we’re at home, most often we make dessert together, play a game, rent a movie, do a project, or read a book. Times like these are like the icing on the Mini Wheats for me. I look forward to date night all week, and it helps me keep going when I’m frustrated and not sure I can keep up with my job as a mom. Even in the craziness of kiddos, I think it’s important to spend time with your spouse, get to know each other all over again, and remember why you love each other because someday the kids will be gone, but you’ll still have each other.

What about you? How do you stay close to your husband? I’d love to know your secrets!!

*****

If this is your first time here, scroll down to read day one. Otherwise, here are the links to the other 31 day posts:

1. Love Your Spouse
2. Place the Big Rocks First
3. Slay Their Dragons
4. Read. A lot.
5. Limit the Media
6. Teach Them Honesty
7. Ditch the List
8. Real Life Happens
9. Establish Traditions
10. Put Them to Work
11. Cookie and a Bookie
12. Teach Them Who They Are
13. Get Involved in Their Education
14. Take a Break
15. Make Them Smile
16. Candy

*****

Day One:

One day last week I was at the grocery store, three kids and a gigantic pregnant belly in tow, trying to manage my list and coupon binder while manuevering the cumbersome “car” cart my kids had begged for but would not stay seated in. True story that it’s not a scene I enjoy creating, however, this is my life, sometimes my husband works late nights, and milk always runs out at inconvienent times.

It never fails, times like these are when a passerby also comments. It varies a bit, but is typically something along the disapproving lines of “these ALL yours?”  I always bite my tounge, keep a smile, and find something witty to say like, “actually I left the other four at home!” But this particular day I was feeling extra hormonal and my husband soon received a blubbering phone call with me wondering ”what the heck we’re doing having a FOURTH?”

Jared is good about bringing perspective and he calmly reminded me, “if anyone knows what it’s like to not be in charge of how many kids we have, it’s us. (None of my seven pregnancies were “planned.”)

And so remembering that it really doesn’t matter what people say, we just love these munchins to pieces and do the best we can to raise them, because parenting is a gift and repsonsibility we’ve been trusted with.

It’s definitely not a ”light” responsibility though and the act of having kids doesn’t necessarily make you a mom (or dad) just like having a piano doesn’t necessarily make you a musician. It takes a lot of hard, hard work. I wholeheartedly believe that, “no amount of success can compensate for failure in the home” (David O. McKay) and it’s been on my mind a lot as we’ve been preparing for our newest addition to arrive in just a couple of months.

So when The Nester issued a challenge to write about one subject for 31 days, I decided it would be good for me to write about intentional parenting.

This is not to say that I have any idea what I’m talking about when it comes to parenting or that I have a bunch of information to share. And it’s certainly not meant to be a 31 day crash course on being a perfect parent. But you know how if you have to explain something to someone you tend to learn it/understand it better yourself? It’s a little trick I used with my struggling first graders in the pre-mommy days. I’d pair the struggler up with someone and ask them to teach the concept. By golly, those strugglers learned quite well when asked to perform!

So I guess this is similar. . . writing about being an intentional parent for 31 days will hopefully help me become a better mom as I gather and share a collection of ideas, thoughts, and goals.

Read more 31 Days of Intentional Parenting posts:

1. Love Your Spouse
2. Place the Big Rocks First
3. Slay Their Dragons
4. Read A lot.
5. Limit the Media
6. Teach Them Honesty
7. Ditch the List
8. Real Life Happens
9. Establish Traditions
10. Put Them to Work
11. Cookie and a Bookie
12. Teach Them Who They Are
13. Get Involved in Their Education
14. Take a Break
15. Make Them Smile
16. Candy